Crown Royal (A Whine After Whiskey story)
by clagjanet
Summary: Lee and Amanda fight off both a villain determined to kill and a princess determined to fix them up on a date. A short story in the "Whine After Whiskey " AU.
1. Party Punch

"My chili's better," remarked Penny, as she dropped into the chair beside Amanda. Amanda smiled, amused at the apparently almost universal dislike of Bo's chili.

"I'm sure it is," she agreed, lifting a spoonful and studying it. "I recognize this chili. This is the tinned stuff they serve in the school cafeteria and it comes in a big five gallon tub. My boys hate it too." She put the bowl and spoon down on the table and looked up to find Penny staring speculatively across the party. She followed her gaze, watching as Lee approached the Crown Prince.

"He's kinda cute," remarked Penny.

"Your husband? Well, you should certainly think so," quipped Amanda.

"No, that agent, Mr. Stetson," Penny chuckled. "The one in charge of security. You met him at the embassy party, remember?"

"Oh him. Yes, I noticed him there, but he seemed pretty grumpy," Amanda answered evasively.

In fact, grumpy hadn't even begun to describe Lee's mood when he'd found out Penny had invited Amanda to the party. He'd had to spend the entire afternoon at the school in the surveillance van, supervising from a distance while Francine watched over the princess that afternoon and he'd blamed Amanda. Which was fair, given that it had been Amanda who had pointed out to Billy that Lee couldn't possibly be visible during a school tour at a school where he was instantly recognizable to two small boys because he'd lived with them for a week while recuperating from a badly damaged knee.

Francine, on the other hand, had been thrilled to bits to be assigned to the tour, even with the proximity to small children. The Princess's Royal Guard had been completely nonplussed by the arrival of a petite blonde with a gun and an attitude, but Francine had alternately charmed and terrified them and the afternoon had gone without a hitch.

Unlike the Embassy party, which had turned into the embodiment of "when it rains, it pours". Lee had narrowly averted an assassination attempt and earned the Prince's admiration, only to have Penny sneak away with Amanda to watch Jamie and Phillip in their Thanksgiving play, where again he'd had to play least in sight in case the boys saw him. He'd definitely been grumpy after all that – and rightfully so, Amanda agreed privately – but at least his mood was slightly improved now that they were on family-free territory and he could prowl around to his heart's content, seeing an assassin under every rock.

"Yeah, Him," Penny was saying now in an admiring tone. She turned to look at Amanda with an arched eyebrow. "And he noticed you too – he was definitely checking you out that night – you and that little black dress you were wearing." She paused then added with a smirk, "I noticed he doesn't have a wedding ring on."

"He doesn't… oh no. No, no. I could never be involved with someone in that line of work. That's too dangerous."

"Sometimes dangerous can be fun."

"Sometimes dangerous can be dangerous."

Sometimes dangerous could be a little bit disappointing too. Lee had indeed been giving her appreciative glances at the party, and had quietly suggested that once the party and the boys' play was done, they could go out for a private party in his apartment, where he could admire the dress up close. Of course, the entire thing had been ruined by Penny insisting on attending the play and all the brouhaha that ensued from that. Lee was disappointed with Amanda for allowing the princess to do something foolish, the boys were disappointed that Lee had missed the play and Dotty had been disappointed that she hadn't had enough warning that an actual princess was going to come over and had thus been caught out hideously underdressed. Most of all, Amanda had been disappointed that Lee seemed unable to see that Penny was simply a nice woman who wanted a friend and that she'd acted out of impulse, not malice.

His attitude had abated a little bit when he'd realized that Amanda could be his inside lead on collecting information from Penny at this ranch weekend – a role she was not happy about, and which had further soured the mood between them. He'd barely spoken to her since she got here; just now he'd sidled up behind her and refused to speak to her like a normal person.

"_She can't know you're one of us," he'd hissed while Amanda rolled her eyes._

"_Oh so, now I'm one of us?" she'd hissed back. "Funny, when she was at my house, I was… now how did you describe it? Oh that's right - nothing but a misguided civilian who almost caused an international incident!"_

"_I said I was sorry about that," Lee muttered. "But come on, Amanda, you know it wasn't safe to let her wander off to Arlington. What would you have done if some bad guy had gotten there first? Kicked him with your leg cast? And with all your family and neighbors there too? It was dangerous and you know it."_

"_Well, that's why I left that message with Dane about where we were going!" she shot back. "Although, why you couldn't have just sent someone in to check quietly and not let the cast of Lawrence of Arabia come tramping into my house and frightening my boys half to death, I'll never know! Jamie is still having nightmares!"_

"_Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm sorry about that too," he admitted. "Look, can you just keep an eye on her and let me know if she says anything that might give us a hint about who's trying to kill them?"_

"_Well, of course, I can do that," she replied through gritted teeth. "I'm not an idiot."_

"_No, you're not." There was a beat of silence and then Lee went on, in a softer tone this time. "I'm also sorry we didn't get our nightcap the other night. You really did look amazing in that dress."_

_Amanda blushed, hoping no one else would notice. "Well, thank you. Maybe we can do something about that another time."_

"_Yeah, maybe we can."_

_She waited for him to say something else but when she turned her head, he'd melted away, back into the crowd._

She looked up to find Penny watching her with an amused expression and realized she'd been smiling as she watched Lee across the patio.

"I don't know, Amanda. You look like you might like to try out a little dangerous after all."

Amanda blushed harder, and couldn't help but glance at Lee again. Unfortunately, he turned and caught her gaze at the same moment and his face split into a grin as he caught her staring.

"Oh my," said Penny faintly, pretending to fan herself with her hand. "Did I say cute? That was obviously before I'd seen that smile. Amanda, if you don't jump James Bond over there, I might have to, despite my wedding ring."

Amanda couldn't help laughing along with her. "Well, now you're just being silly. Besides, he's working."

Penny lifted a knowing brow. "Oh, so you admit you'd consider it otherwise? Well, at least make sure you give him your number before all this is over. Because if you don't, I will." She gave Amanda a wink and walked off to join her husband.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure he has my number," Amanda mumbled to herself.


	2. Nightcap

"Well Amanda, do you know I didn't even think to pack a sexy nightgown?"

"It can be even better without the sexy nightgown," confided Amanda, laughing along with Penny. In the instant that she mentally mourned the fact the she hadn't packed any such thing either, Lee appeared in the window as if she'd conjured him up.

Penny whirled, alerted by her gasp of surprise, and caught sight of him as he darted out of view again. "Oh ho!" she said with lascivious delight.

"This is not an oh-ho," Amanda scrambled to retrieve the situation. At Penny's knowing grin she continued, "No, no, no, it's not. I do not know what that man wants."

Penny gave off an unladylike snort. "Oh Amanda, has it been that long? Have you forgotten about honeysuckle and moonlight already?"

"You have a very vivid imagination," Amanda lectured her sternly.

"I need one. The only fun I'm going to have this weekend is imagining all the fun you're about to have this weekend!" Penny clapped her hands together with glee and began walking to the door. "I'm going to bed," she announced, loudly enough that it had to be for Lee's benefit, before lowering her voice and saying "Just give it a few discreet minutes and then give 'er the gas!"

Amanda gave her a disapproving look. "Given the amount of chili we all had this afternoon, that is a particularly inappropriate remark."

With a shout of laughter and a wave, Penny disappeared out the door. As if on cue, there was a tap on the window and she looked up to see Lee beaming at her.

She waved him in irritably and glowered as he swung in and sat down opposite her. "So, how's the princess? Did you get anything useful from her?" he asked, going straight into agent mode.

Amanda ignored the questions and began to reprimand him. "That was quite the performance you just gave at the window. She thinks we're having an oh-ho-ho-ho!"

Lee looked confused. "We are having an oh-ho-ho-ho," he offered her with a humorous leer.

"Lee! Is that all being married means to you?" she spluttered. "That you can grab a quickie whenever we can manage to get together for five minutes?"

"Well, you know what I can do with five minutes," he joked. When she didn't laugh, he looked at her more closely, noticing the strain in her eyes for the first time.

"Wait, no! Of course it isn't just that!" he stammered, taken aback. "Amanda, honey – what's wrong?" He moved quickly to crouch in front of her chair, seizing her hands between his. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened!" she answered, dropping her head onto her chest. "I'm just tired of lying to Penny, and my ankle hurts and my allergies are making my eyes itch and she thinks you're cute!"

"I am cute," he joked.

"I know you're cute!" she wailed. "But I didn't pack a sexy nightgown!"

"You…what?" asked Lee starting to laugh, as he rocked back on his heels. "Do you even own a sexy nightgown?"

"Well, of course, I do!" she wailed again. "See? You don't even think I have one! Because you've only ever seen me in my regular one!"

"But I like you in your regular one," Lee pointed out, trying to control his laughter. "You know I do."

"But you haven't even seen me in my regular one for weeks between staying at my house with the boys and Mother around all the time and then all the overtime you've had to put in for the royal tour and the only reason I'm even here is because I'm a frumpy housewife who could run a PTA tour with my eyes closed and if any bad guy showed up, I couldn't even do anything, except kick them with my c-c-c-cast!" She looked at him with tear-filled eyes.

"Frumpy housewife? Have you been listening to Francine again?" he asked with narrowed eyes. "You know she only says things like that when she's mad she didn't get an assignment."

"She wasn't the one who said I wasn't any help with bad guys," Amanda answered. "That was you!"

Lee nodded rapidly in contrite acknowledgement. "I know, I know I did, and that was just because I was in a bad mood." He leaned forward to slide his arms around her, lifting her up, before turning to sit back down on the chair with her in his lap. "Now come on, you know I didn't mean any of that. I've seen what you can do with a fire extinguisher – I'm sure you could take out the whole Zakirian rebel militia with your leg cast." When Amanda gave a watery chuckle, he cuddled her in closer. "Now, what's really bothering you?"

"Well, I _am_ tired, and my ankle _does_ hurt," she answered. "But mostly, I really, really hate lying to Penny. We lie to so many people in our lives already and she's genuinely nice and she really needs a friend and I'm lying to her about everything!"

"No, you're not," said Lee. "You're really here because you made friends with her, not because we got you here by being sneaky. And we didn't get you to do the PTA tour because we wanted you to lie to her either – you are a great PTA mom and it made the security easier for us, but we didn't know it would lead to the two of you hitting it off, now did we?"

"I guess not," she admitted.

"So you're not lying about being a mother, and you're not lying about being her friend. You're just being a little… loose with the truth about knowing me. That's not so bad, is it?"

"But you expect me to tell you everything she tells me privately," Amanda pointed out. "That's not something a friend should do."

"Not everything," he countered. "But if you think there's something she told you that might help us catch the bad guys, a friend would do that, wouldn't they?"

Amanda lifted her head from his shoulder and studied him. "I suppose so," she said finally. "But I'm not sure Penny would see it that way. She's already surrounded by people she can't trust and I don't like being one of them."

"Amanda… Honey," Lee said, tilting his head and giving her a reproachful look. "The tour will be over in a few days and you'll probably never see her again. But you might save her life in the meantime. Isn't that worth a little bit of lying and sneaking?"

"Ugh!" she groaned, dropping her head back on his shoulder. "I hate that you make that sound so reasonable!"

"It is reasonable," he said, standing up, with her still in his arms. "Now, did she tell you anything I should know?" He began wending his way around the furniture.

"Well, she had a lot to say about Bo Johnson," Amanda began before stopping. "Where are we going?" she asked suspiciously.

"You said you were tired and that your ankle hurt," Lee answered with a grin. "So I'm taking you to bed."

"Lee! We can't… not here!" she hissed, looking around the bedroom as if she expected someone to see them.

"Why not here?" he asked. "We can talk just as well in there as out here and you'll be a lot more comfortable." Lee's lips were twitching as he placed her on the bed. He shrugged off his jacket and pulled off his vest and tie, tossing them aside as he kicked off his shoes before rolling onto the bed beside her and starting to nuzzle her neck, his hands already pushing off her jacket. "A lot more comfortable," he murmured happily.

Amanda's fingers had begun to act with a mind of their own, automatically undoing his shirt buttons before pausing. "Wait a minute – did you really come by my window just for this?"

Lee paused and lifted his head to look at her before sighing. "No, not really." He rolled back and lifted his hand to his head so that he could rest on one elbow. "You said Penny had a lot to say about Bo Johnson? Well, Francine's friend at the IRS had a lot more to say about him. And the most interesting part? Johnson Oil owns a company that owns a company that owns Endicott Roofing."

Amanda stared at him, before shrugging wordlessly in confusion. "And that's important because..?"

"Because it was an employee from Endicott that was on the roof at the party," Lee explained.

Her eyes widened in shock. "So you think Bo has something to do with it?"

"I'm certain of it," Lee nodded. "But we don't have enough proof yet. He could just say that his company offered the embassy a good deal on roofing because of their friendship and someone obviously snuck a paid assassin onto the payroll. It looked like Parker knew something about it, but with him gone…" he sighed.

"Well if it helps any, Penny says she's been arguing with her husband about not renewing Johnson Oil's leases on their wells in Zakir, but Bo's really pushing for them because his company is in trouble."

"Well now, isn't that interesting?" Lee's expression turned speculative. "That's a million dollar reason to want someone dead, isn't it?" He gave a grunt of annoyance. "But we can't pin anything on him, and now we're on his territory."

Amanda reached out and ran her fingertips along the side of his face. "You'll figure it out, you always do."

"Thank you for believing in me," Lee murmured, leaning in to kiss her.

"You're welcome," Amanda smiled up at him.

"Anything else you think I should know or are we done?" he asked.

"No, I guess we're done," she answered. "So you're headed back to your room?" she asked, not able to conceal her disappointment.

"Oh no, I just meant are we done with discussing Bo Johnson," grinned Lee, rolling to pin her under his weight. "I'm not done with you by a long shot." He nipped her collarbone.

"Lee, we can't!" Amanda exclaimed, trying to wriggle away, not very convincingly.

"Why not? You said yourself, it's been too long since we've managed to get some decent time alone," he said, continuing to prevent her escape.

"But people will know!" she waved a hand aimlessly to encompass their surroundings. "They'll know we…" She couldn't finish the sentence as she blushed bright red.

"Amanda, don't you think the princess expects us to? I mean she practically offered you up on a plate just now with that performance about heading to her own room."

"Oh, that makes it worse!" Amanda fussed. "She can't possibly have meant I should… that we should…"

"I prefer to think of it as a royal command," he teased. "We could probably be tried for treason in Zakir if we didn't."

"That's not helping!" she spluttered. "Thinking that she's going to be thinking about what we were doing!"

"Amanda," Lee twinkled down at her, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "If she's going to be thinking about what we're doing anyway, what's the harm in doing what she's thinking?"

Amanda stopped struggling and considered that for a moment. "I guess that's true," she said thoughtfully. "Except…"

"Except?" Lee repeated.

"Well, I did just tell Penny she had a very vivid imagination," she said, seriously. "She's probably going to come up with all sorts of crazy ideas about it. Especially since she compared you to James Bond."

Lee tilted his head and surveyed her, eyes dancing. "You think I can't live up to a princess's very vivid imagination?"

"Oh I'm sure you can," she said with a demure expression. "I'm just letting you know what to aim for."

"Oh Amanda," he sighed into her hair. "You know I always know what to aim for."

"Lasting longer than five minutes?" she quipped, laughing when he growled his displeasure, then sighing happily as he began to demonstrate.


	3. Cliffhanger

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?" asked Penny, stroking the horse's neck. "Stormy feels like he's dying to get out and stretch his legs."

"Oh, no, I, I really better not, I have an allergy, and, you know, with this cast," Amanda gestured to her foot.

"Well, that's a crying shame Mrs. King can't go with you, because that'd save Mr. Stetson from worrying about your security," Bo commented, the smile on his face not quite reaching his eyes.

"I beg your pardon?" said Amanda.

Bo's eyes narrowed as he gazed at Amanda, "Awww, you mean the princess doesn't know?"

"Doesn't know what?" interrupted Penny.

"That your friend here is a G-man. Or shouldn't I say, G-lady? I mean, you do work for Mr. Stetson, don't you?" His expression turned triumphant as Penny went pale.

"I do not work for Mr. Stetson!" Amanda replied somewhat evasively, trying to control the tremble in her voice as Penelope stared at her with a shocked expression.

"Is that so? Because you see, my foreman Earl, just happened to be outside your window, digging for night crawlers while you and Mr. Stetson were pow-wowing last night." He let that comment hang in the air for a moment before adding, "Although I hear there wasn't much talking going on in that pow-wow." He gave Amanda a leering wink and laughed when she flushed bright red. "I'm surprised though - I didn't think a lady like you would fool around with married men."

"He is not..." a flustered Amanda started to say. "I mean I'm sure he's not… we didn't…" she stammered. She looked at Penny who was staring at her with disapproval.

"I don't know whether I'm more upset that you lied about why you're here or that you listened to everything I said last night and then slept with a married man!" she said.

"It's not what it sounds like… I can explain!" answered Amanda feebly.

"I'm sure you can try," replied Penny. "I'm sure that coming up with excuses is all part of your training! I can't believe I thought you came here as my friend. I should have known it was just your job."

"No, that's not true! Yes, Lee and I work together but we're-"

"Well, I hope they're paying you well," Penny cut her off as she turned Stormy and rode away.

"Penny!" Amanda called after her to no avail. She turned on Bo angrily. "I am not a G-man!"

"Well, I never contradict a lady. Mind you Earl said you weren't being very ladylike last night," said Bo with a self-satisfied grin and a tip of his hat. "Have a pleasant day, Mrs. King."

Amanda glared at his back as he walked away. "Digging for nightcrawlers indeed! I know for a fact that window wasn't open!" She stopped short as she realized the implications of that - that Bo must have a listening device somewhere in her room. "Oh no. Oh no, no,no," she whispered. "Oh Lee, he knows we're on to him!"

She whirled and hobbled back toward the stable. "Is there a horse I can use?" she asked the stable hand.

"Well, I just grained all the horses, ma'am," he answered. "Except for Diablo here," he gestured at a large horse in the pen beside them.

"Diablo?" Amanda squeaked. "Well, I'm sure he's very nice." Diablo lifted his head at the sound of his name and stared at her - evilly, she thought to herself.

"He's kind of a . . . spirited horse," the stable hand commented. "Are you sure you can ride with that leg?"

"Oh… I'll manage," gulped Amanda, trying to hide her nervousness. Diablo curled his upper lip at her - she wasn't sure if he was trying to look threatening or if he was laughing at her.

The stable hand shrugged and left to get the saddle. Amanda chewed a nail and studied the horse while Diablo chewed some hay and stared back at her. She nodded firmly to herself finally. "Lee can look after himself, but someone needs to keep an eye on the princess," she said out loud. "Right, horsey?"

Diablo shrugged.

* * *

Lee picked himself up from the bunkhouse floor and stared down at Earl's unconscious form. "Sorry Pal - that last move of mine with the shovel is going to leave you looking a lot less pretty," he said, dusting himself off.

Some motion in his peripheral vision had Lee turning to look out the window. There was something in the trees, and as they thinned, he saw with relief that it was Penny, still safe and sound. A beat later, he realized it wasn't Penny; Penny's horse wasn't' brown and Penny didn't have an air cast on her foot.

"Oh my God, Amanda, what are you doing?" he asked out loud. He winced as the horse shied sideways, almost dislodging her. He whirled and ran out, jumping into the Jeep Earl had left parked there and racing in the same direction Amanda was headed. As he drove to cut her off, the horse picked up its pace, going from the prancing trot it had been performing to a fast canter and then, as Lee's heart jumped into his mouth, broke into a flat out gallop. He floored the Jeep, racing along the dirt road, looking for somewhere to cut her off.

The horse veered to try and scrape her off under a branch, unsuccessfully as Amanda leaned out of the way with a scream. The change in direction, however, had put them on a collision course with Lee who managed to trap the racing horse between the Jeep and the wooden beam fence, with nowhere to go but straight ahead. Amanda turned her head to look at him, relief at seeing him warring with the fear obvious on her face. She had dropped the reins and was clutching Diablo's mane with a death grip.

"Lee! Make him stop!" she yelped.

"Hang on!" he yelled back. He edged the jeep closer and reached out with his fingertips trying to grab the dangling reins. As he concentrated, Amanda suddenly looked ahead.

"Look out!" she shrieked.

Lee looked just in time to see an abrupt turn in the road ahead of him. He lunged to grab the horse's reins, letting himself fall out of the Jeep as it continued to move forward, crashing into a tree on the edge of the road. Lee dug in his heels, bracing himself to be dragged by a runaway horse, but Diablo, completely confused by all the commotion of a crash, a screaming woman and a firm hand in the bridle, slowed down all on his own and stopped, sides heaving, in the middle of the road.

Amanda slumped in the saddle, whimpering. "I couldn't make him stop," she said.

"Well, you kinda need to hold on to the reins to do that," Lee teased her. "Come on, I got you," he went on, holding out his arms.

Amanda started to slide off, then stopped, remembering why she was even on the horse in the first place. "Oh Lee! Bo was listening in on us last night! He told Penny I was with the Agency! And that you were married! And now she thinks I'm lying about absolutely everything!"

"Well, Bo is a lying cheating son of a bitch and he's trying to kill her," he said, one hand still on her stirrup. "So let's go find her and get this all cleared up before anyone else gets hurt. Where is she?"

Amanda gestured wildly to the rolling hills. "Somewhere out there. She took off on Stormy – you know, the big white horse Bo gave her."

"Oh my God." Lee looked in the direction she was waving, and saw Bo's truck speeding along the dirt track on the hillside. "We have to get to her before he does. Hang on."

In one fluid movement, he had a foot in the stirrup and had vaulted onto Diablo's back, Amanda tucked against his chest.

"Wait, no, put me down!" she cried. "I can't!"

"I've got you and we don't have any time to waste. Don't you trust me?" said Lee.

It didn't matter whether she did or not, as he had already urged the horse into a canter, and after a few seconds, she realized he really did have her in a grip that felt safe and steady, and not at all like that feeling of imminent death she'd had when the horse was bolting with her.

"Have you done this a lot?" she asked over her shoulder. "How do you know how to drive one of these things?"

Even with his eyes fixed firmly on Bo's vehicle in the distance, Lee's lips twitched at her question.

"I had a horse when I was young," he said. "My uncle thought it would teach me responsibility."

"That what the boys keep telling me when they're begging for a dog," Amanda answered, closing her eyes as Lee directed Diablo to jump over a small ditch.

"Seemed to work out for me," he said.

"Right up until you got drunk and married a stranger in Vegas," she shot back.

"And look how well that worked out," he teased. "I've turned into an old married man with no problem whatsoever. Hang on."

She barely had time to squeal in fear as he let the young horse change its pace to a racing gallop as they headed toward Penny on the other side of the meadow. She had paused near a viewpoint, looking out over the Blue Ridge, but at the sound of approaching hoof beats, she turned in her saddle to watch them. It was clear from her expression that she was still upset, but she didn't move off, simply waited for them to get closer.

Lee swung off, leaving Amanda clutching the saddle and moved quickly to grab the reins of Penny's horse.

"Your Highness, you're in danger. I need you to get off that horse right now," he ordered.

Penny drew herself up into full icy princess mode. "Mr. Stetson, I have been riding since I was a toddler and I am certainly not in any danger! Now let go of that bridle."

"Penny, please listen to him," Amanda struggled to catch her breath to plead with her. "He told me Bo is trying to kill you."

Penny's lips thinned. "And you believe him? Did he also tell you he was single before he lured you into a tawdry one-night stand?"

"Nobody lured anybody!" said Lee angrily. "And whatever anybody did, what's important right now is that I have reason to believe that this horse is dangerous!"

"Oh really?" scoffed Penny. "This horse? This horse that's just standing here, chewing grass and checking your pockets for treats? He's dangerous?"

Even as she spoke, they all heard the high-pitched whine of a whistle and a moment later, Lee was lifted off his feet as Stormy reared straight up with a screaming whinny with Lee still clinging to the bridle.

Penny grabbed at her saddle to stay on, her innate horsemanship keeping her on Stormy, as she pulled on the reins to bring him back down. To Amanda it seemed like forever, but it was really only one or two seconds before his hooves returned to earth, followed a beat later by Lee's feet hitting the ground with a thud.

"Now will you get down?" he asked angrily, tightening his grip on the reins. "Before Bo blows that whistle again and you get hurt?"

Penny began to nod, but before she could move, there was a cracking sound and the ground beneath Lee's feet vanished. To Amanda it looked like a horrible magic trick - one moment he was there and the next he was gone. The silence was eerie as both horrified women stared into the empty space where he'd been standing.

"Lee!" Amanda screamed, scrambling off Diablo and moving toward the edge without thinking of her own safety. "Lee!"

"Amanda! Keep back!"

It took her a beat to realize that it was Lee that was shouting at her, impossible as that seemed. She stopped dead, staring at the edge where he'd vanished. It struck her as odd that Stormy was almost comically bent forward, peering over the edge and then she realized what she was seeing. The horse had its feet braced and was trying to move backward but couldn't. The reins had been yanked over its head and were hanging over the cliff edge, pulled taut. As she watched, the horse managed a few backward steps, then a familiar hand appeared over the top, grasping for a handhold.

"Lee!" she gasped. In the same instant, Penny realized what was happening and jumped off the horse, moving in front of him and encouraging him to continue to move back.

"Hang on, Mr. Stetson! We've got you!"

Slowly, agonizingly slowly, Stormy moved, and finally Lee's other hand, still grasping the reins appeared, followed inch by inch by the rest of him until he was lying on the ground, gasping for breath. Amanda started to move toward him, only for him to hold up a hand.

"No, move back. Keep moving back until we know we're on solid ground," he ordered.

She stepped back, unwillingly, matching her steps to his speed as he wriggled forward until they were far enough away for him to push himself up and stride toward her.

"Oh Sweetheart!" she gasped, throwing herself into his arms. "I thought you were dead!"

"I almost was," he said tersely, no room in his relief to even attempt to tease her. "That whole cliff face was rigged to collapse - I could see the supports falling down the cliff under me." He pulled her in close, hugging her tightly as if she was an anchor, and she clung back like a limpet, burying her face in his neck.

All too soon though, he broke off the embrace and looked up at Penelope.

"Thank you," he said. "If you hadn't stayed calm, just then…" He glanced back at the cliff edge and shuddered.

"Was that supposed to me?" Penny asked in disbelief. "Bo really did try to kill me?"

Lee nodded with a grim expression. "I don't have all the details, but I do know he trained the horse to throw you on some kind of signal."

"That whistle sound," said Amanda. "Just before…" she swallowed hard.

Lee nodded again. "I heard it too. And we need to get the two of you somewhere safe before he figures out it didn't work."

"What do you mean somewhere safe? We're in the middle of a ranch he owns!" said Penny.

"Somewhere public," replied Lee. "He didn't come down here to make sure it worked so he's probably gone back to the ranch house to make sure no one connects him with you disappearing. If we can get back there fast enough, he won't have a second chance." He looked at the horses, then back at the two women with a grimace. "We're going to have to ride back."

Amanda gave off a little groan and Lee gave her a sympathetic look. "Sorry, Honey, but we need to be quick."

Penny moved to remount Stormy, until Lee put out a hand to stop her. "I don't think you should get back on him, Your Highness."

"Don't be ridiculous," she retorted. "You said yourself Bo is gone, and now that I know what to expect, I can be on my guard. Besides, like you said, we need to get moving."

"He's a dangerous animal" said Lee.

"He's not a bad horse," replied Penny, rubbing Stormy's nose. "He's just been trained to do bad things."

Lee was silent for a moment, then nodded. "You can get off him safely if he tries it again?"

"First thing you learn with a horse is how to fall off one," said Penny with false cheeriness. "Easy as falling into bed."

"We'll keep them side by side," Lee agreed, finally. "You can grab onto us if he tries anything." He gave Penny a leg up onto Stormy, then turned to Amanda.

"It's ok – I promise we'll go back slower than we came," he said, taking in the nervousness evident on her face. "And I'll have a hold of you. Trust me."

"Okay," she agreed, with a slight shiver.

Lee helped her up, then swung up behind, wrapping one hand around her waist and holding Diablo's reins loosely in one hand.

"We'll go back through the trees," he said. "Try to keep out of sight until we're closer to the ranch and the Prince's guards and the other agents can see us. Bo won't try anything with witnesses."

Penny nodded and they moved off into the cover of the wooded hillside.

"So how long have you been an agent, Amanda?" she asked. "You really had me fooled with the mom act."

"Oh, that's no act!" answered Amanda. "I'm not an agent at all! I mean, I work at the Agency but I'm not an agent – I'm not even full time! I just do typing and filing most days – nothing like this!"

Lee snorted. "Except for when your ability to find trouble comes up."

"You're not an agent but you were put on my security team?" questioned Penny.

"Oh no, I wasn't. I really wasn't!" explained Amanda. "I was just supposed to lead the PTA tour and that was all! None of this- " she waved her hand around – "was supposed to happen at all!"

"It's the truth, Your Highness," said Lee. "When you requested a school tour, it seemed obvious to select one where we could do a fast security review. Having Amanda be the PTA contact made that much simpler because she was already cleared and she could vouch for the other parents and teachers."

"And so much simpler to have your mistress handy as well?" Penny sniped. "I can't believe I fell for your innocent act. And I'm not so sure I shouldn't report you – having a fling while you're supposed to be protecting me!"

Lee felt Amanda stiffen and pulled his horse to a stop. "Okay, that's enough. I wasn't on duty when I visited Amanda last night – a visit I heard you encourage, I might add – and besides which, she is not my mistress. She's my wife."

He turned his head to look at Amanda who had gasped at his admission. Her eyes were shining with tears.

"I'm sorry – I shouldn't have just told her without asking you," he apologized.

"It's not that," she smiled tremulously at him, "it's just that you've never said that out loud before."

"Of course I have," he began to protest before stopping. "My God, you're right." He grinned at her. "I like saying it out loud. You're my wife."

Penny stared at him in shock for a moment, then at Amanda, before recovering herself. "Well, that's not true – I've been to Amanda's house – you aren't married!"

"No one knows," explained Amanda apologetically. "Except my mother. Phillip and Jamie don't know and no one at work."

"I don't understand," Penny shook her head. "How can your children not know you're married?"

"Phillip and Jamie are from my first marriage," Amanda corrected her. "Lee and I only met a few months ago."

"Okay, now I really don't believe you," snapped Penny.

"Come on, we'll explain as we go." Lee clucked his horse back into motion.


	4. Near Miss Bliss

"I can't believe I thought this was just going to be a boring trip back to the States," sighed Penny. "Rheza says he's read adventure stories with less action than we saw this weekend." Her face lit up with a dimpled smile. "And I'm not even counting the action you and your husband got up to!"

"Sssshhhh!" Amanda hushed her, looking around to make sure no agents were nearby that would have heard her.

"It's fine," said Penny. She gestured to the agents gathered around the police cars across the driveway. "All your guys are busy with Bo and his cronies, and all our guys don't speak enough English to understand me anyway."

Amanda turned to meet the stony gaze of the Zakir Royal Guardsman behind her. Just as she was about to look away in relief, his lips twitched and he gave her a wink.

"Oh my gosh," she whispered, turning scarlet.

"Don't let him get to you," said Penny, laughing now. "Amar's good with secrets. And so am I," she added reassuringly. She linked Amanda's arm with hers and began to stroll over to the paddock fence. "I can't get over your story – I thought I was having a crazy life, growing up and marrying a prince, but finding true love with a secret agent on a drunken Vegas fling? That's a New York Times bestseller!"

"Oh no, it's… well, yes, it's crazy but it's not…" Amanda stammered then stopped.

"It's not what?" asked Penny, curious.

"Well, I wouldn't say it's true love," said Amanda, blushing. "We're still working up to that. I mean, we thought we'd take it slow and see if we even wanted to stay married and I think it's going pretty well, and the boys really like him and my mother, oh gosh, my mother just loves him, but you know, it's only been a few months and so many things have happened and we've never told each other that, although we've come really close and I think I might, but I don't know if Lee -" She stopped talking as Penny squeezed her arm.

"Amanda? Have you ever seen the way he looks at you?" She turned her gently so they were facing Lee and the other agents. He glanced their way and instantly, his face lit up with a warm smile before he turned back to his work. "That man has it bad for you and I can't believe no one else has figured it out yet when he's that terrible at hiding it."

"Oh," whispered Amanda. "I mean, I hoped, but I didn't think…"

"Oh my gosh, what a pair you are," Penny's eyes twinkled with merriment. "Please promise you'll write and tell me how it works out as Mrs. Stetson."

"I will, I promise," Amanda answered with an embarrassed smile. "I'm sorry we dragged you into our secret."

"Are you kidding? That was the best thing part of this whole thing," Penny chuckled.

Rheza looked up from where he'd been consulting with the Zakirian contingent and Amanda watched his face light up the same way Lee's had moments before.

"I don't think you'll need that sexy nightgown," she teased Penny.

"Now that this is all over, maybe we can have a real vacation," agreed Penny. "To try and remember what brought us together in the first place."

"Well, at least for you it wasn't two-for-one margarita night!" quipped Amanda.

Penny squeezed her arm as they walked towards their husbands. "The margaritas may have greased the wheels for you, Amanda, but I don't believe for one minute that that's what brought you two together. I think it was destiny."

"Do you really believe all that fairy tale stuff?" Amanda asked, wistfully.

"I have to, Amanda – I'm a princess!" Penny laughed and turned to give her a long hug as they stopped beside the royal limousine. "Goodbye, Amanda. Thank you so much for everything."

"I didn't do anything special," said Amanda. "I didn't even ride to the rescue properly."

"You were my friend," chided Penny, giving her a little shake. "That was a lot."

She turned to Lee and held out her hand. "Thank you to you too, Mr. Stetson. Now you look after Amanda or I'll know the reason why."

Instead of shaking her hand, Lee bowed and kissed her fingers with a theatrical flourish. "Your wish is my command, Your Highness."

"He really is cute, isn't he?" Penny asked Amanda in a stage whisper. "Don't tell my husband I said so." With one last wink and a wave, she settled into the limousine and the royal couple was finally on their way.

Lee and Amanda watched in silence for a moment, waiting for the other agents to move off towards their own vehicles and drive off as well.

Amanda turned, resting her hands on Lee's chest and fiddling with his lapels. "I'm glad we told Penny the truth, about us, I mean."

Lee put his arms around her, locking his hands behind her back. "Well, it won't do any harm for her to know, and I could tell it was bothering you to keep lying to her."

"It was nice to hear it out loud," she answered, blushing slightly. "Sometimes, when we're not living together and we're not telling anyone, it doesn't seem quite real." She looked up to meet his eyes, smiling when she saw his tender expression.

"I never forget it's real," he said. "Although I do have to remind myself occasionally that it happened. I do regret that neither of us remember that part."

"Do you ever have other regrets?" she quizzed him. "The deadline for getting that annulment is going to sneak up on us and we were supposed to be taking this time to make up our minds…" She trailed off at his change of expression.

"Haven't we been doing that?" he asked.

"We have, and although it was nice when you were staying at the house, I had to treat you as just a friend with the boys around. And maybe we let work get in the way sometimes and seeing how unhappy Penny and Rheza are when work gets in the way of being a couple, it just made me think."

"We haven't let work get in the way though," Lee pointed out. "If anything, I think you helping me with cases has brought us closer together."

"Penny said to me that sometimes dangerous can be fun but you know, this afternoon… when that cliff gave way…" She shuddered and closed her eyes. "I thought I'd lost you. It was awful."

"Hey now," Lee pulled her in close. "I'm fine."

"I know you are," she answered, but the way she was gripping his jacket said it was nightmare vision that would haunt her for a while. "But it made me realize that I'd never said… I've never told you…" she stumbled over her words. She lifted her head and looked at him; Lee went very still in her embrace and she lost her nerve. "I just… I'm really glad we met."

Lee stared at her for a beat, then relaxed, the hint of trepidation in his eyes vanishing as he smiled. "Me too."

She reached around and pulled his head down to hers for a long kiss, a kiss that left them both breathless and smiling when they finally pulled back apart,

"You know, my friend Crump has a cabin just down the highway from here," remarked Lee. "Really quiet, big stone fireplace, fantastic views of the Shenandoah from every room…"

"That does sound nice," sighed Amanda. "But Mother will be expecting-"

"-you back sometime tomorrow," finished Lee, slipping his hand into the small of her back and starting to guide her towards her car. "State Department will be keeping this little diplomatic incident quiet so it's not like she'll know you have no reason to still be away. So how about it? Just me and you and no shop talk?"

"I think I could be persuaded if you think he'd be willing to let us borrow it for the night."

"I already called him," Lee grinned. "We can be there in 30 minutes and the key is under the flowerpot on the windowsill."

"You already called him?" asked Amanda, starting to smile. "When did you even have time to do that?"

"Oh, you know me," smirked Lee. "I can be very efficient with five minutes."


End file.
